MORECAMBE'S brand new lifeboat station will be officially opened in a special celebration next week.

The station, which came into operation last December, has already handled 15 call-outs this year. 1998 was the busiest in the Morecambe station's history with 28 alerts.

The new, two-storey building, on the resort's central promenade, has been funded by people in the Morecambe and Lancaster area through legacies, donations and money-raising events.

The opening, which gets under way at 2pm, will see the station formally handed over to station secretary John Beaty by Colonel Alan Niekirk, a member of the committee of management of the RNLI.

Senior helmsman Harry Roberts will express thanks and a service of dedication will be conducted by the Rev David Buck, Curate of Morecambe Parish Church.

Members of the 15-strong crew will put the station's high-speed D-class lifeboat through its paces during a demonstration.

The striking boathouse commands spectacular views. Its position is also crucial because it allows shore-based back-up teams to keep visual track of the lifeboat over much larger areas of the Bay.

The lifeboat is housed in a roomy boathouse, giving fast and easy access to a choice of two slipways. In the boathouse also is a four-wheel drive vehicle for towing the lifeboat on inland missions. The ground floor also accommodates hot showers for the crew. Importantly, they can also be used to help revive victims battling hypothermia. A spiral staircase leads to the operations rooms and a battery of high-tech equipment. The station is in direct contact with the crew and Liverpool Coastguard at all times during emergencies.

The first floor also houses an office and galley for the crew, who come from all walks of life - they include a painter and decorator, panel beater, council worker, accountant, hotelier and baker.

The new station replaces a prefabricated garage, which had been the crew's home ever since the RNLI established a base in the resort in 1966.

Before then cover in the Bay was provided voluntarily by the Morecambe and Heysham Fishermen's Lifeboat Association, who used an old fishing boat, the Sir William Priestly, on rescue missions. The boat is now in storage at Lancaster Maritime Museum. The station will be opened by TV North West reporter Paul Crone.

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